Done Deal Undone
Florida voters just won a big victory, keeping their important right to check their legislature through voter initiatives. Weeks ago, state legislators were poised to put three amendments on the ballot that, if passed, would have crippled the state’s initiative process.
The amendments seemed a done deal. Legislative leadership and Governor Jeb Bush had signed on. The Florida Chamber of Commerce had campaigned for these restrictions for a year. The Chamber even formed a surrogate organization, Vote Smart Florida, which in turn enlisted other special interest groups. They ran slick ads, stockpiled $4 million, and unleashed legions of lobbyists. But then a broad-based coalition led by the Florida Initiative League and including anti-tax activists, sportsmen’s associations, the Sierra Club, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters began to raise public awareness at the grassroots.
As the session closed, the legislative package that had seemed sewn up . . . instead unraveled. The two most serious attacks giving the state supreme court near total power to accept or reject citizen initiatives, and requiring a super-majority of 60 percent to pass new initiatives were scuttled. Unfortunately, an amendment with weaker, but still negative, effects was placed on the ballot.
It moves the petition deadline up six months, making the process more difficult and more expensive. But the new pro-voter initiative coalition will fight that. The Florida initiative process will not be gutted by politicians not this year. Because some citizen watchdogs showed up to fight.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
